Freedom of Speech

5 Pages

1167 Words

The right to free speech is one of the most precious rights an individual has as a citizen of the United States of America. This right gives people the opportunity to speak their mind and give their opinions of what they think should happen. These rights have been questioned and exercised throughout history, and have produced extremely positive things in a lot of cases. The questioning of these rights are not secluded to one era of time; they have been questioned many different times, in many different ways. In modern times, people are always protesting something and in the colonial times it was the same. People wanted their voice to be heard and as long as it is done in a peaceful manner it is legal now, but it resulted in punishment for the colonists. People have never questioned whether or not these rights should exist, the questions involve whether there should be limits or not.
In this era, the right to free speech is being questioned more and more. People are not using their right to free speech because they feel as if they cannot. This is not the case, just because there is a major conflict doesn’t mean they cannot let their voice be heard. Most recently, the War in Iraq has brought up many of these questions. Many people did not want to engage in war with Iraq, but the government went ahead and did it, but people did not inquiry about this judgment, they trusted that the powers in charge were making the correct decision. People are actually “afraid to question Washington.” They feel that if they question the government that they will be punished. The people that do voice their opinions try to keep a low profile. This is very similar to Germany in the Hitler Era and the Soviet Union (Johnston). “America is now living the AM radio talk-show mentality. Those who would give the government unlimited powers are having a field day, and they never fail to try and intimidate those w
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